


Reach for the Stars

by Chya



Category: CI5: The New Professionals
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-12-30
Updated: 1999-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chya/pseuds/Chya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erm? Very short violent thingy?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reach for the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Jill for the beta . This spent all day yesterday running round my head, and sort of popped out today. Don't ask me for explanations, it's just a little bit of wierdness... oh, and if you're not sure who's narrating, just think about who wrote it, and it should become obvious...

Darkness, white fire flashes lighting the way in concert with rattling Uzi's and thuds of speeding bullets hitting concrete, metal, flesh. Cries of pain, Sam's voice yelling through my headset, coordinating the corridor of covering fire for our escape. Jolting up my arm as I loose a shot at a hostile that's penetrated the corridor. Sick pleasure as he falls from my one shot, conserving ammo, four bullets left, unable to reload one-handed while running.

Small arms strangling me with abject terror, frightened cries in my ear, trembling body clinging to mine, too tight, hard to breath, no time to worry about it now. Keep going, keep running, gotta get the kid outta here. Too young to know what's happening, too scared to do anything.

Sam yells again as scaffolding falls somewhere behind me. Metal poles fall in peripheral vision, planking flying over our heads. Running, swerving, jumping, ducking through them, forced out of the corridor, keep running into new territory, relying on sense of direction.

Sudden silence, pause, head out of the building or back to covering fire? Hobson's choice, maybe. The exit's closer, Malone's waiting out there with more backup. My turn to yell into the headset. Guns rattle some more but some of them are moving, sweeping round, trying to find positions to cover me. Trying to find positions to stop me.

A black hole in a black wall, but the hole has stars. Sprint for the stars, ignore heaving lungs, aching muscles, frightened passenger clinging so hard it hurts. Dark shadow, glint of metal. One shot, he's dead. Three bullets left.

Can almost reach the stars, they're so close, nearly there.

Impact on the back of my leg, stumbling, falling, rolling, protecting, shielding, back to my feet, left leg numbing, force it to work, keep running, limping, swerving, make us difficult to target, nearly there. Sam's voice shouting some more, they're almost here.

Five yards, four yards, three...

Impact like a rough fist in my back shoots me forward, staggering...

Two yards, one yard... reach for the stars...

Impact in my shoulder swings me round, unwilling, falling, curling, protect the kid. Sam's voice screaming in my ear. Can't move, protect the kid, gun at the ready, three bullets, three possible kills, a thousand hostiles, we're gonna die...

Shadow overcast, gun ready, can't lift it. Try anyway, shadow bends down, gunfire stops. Old voice takes my gun, tells me its over, he's wrong. Can't run, but still running, nothing works. Another shadow, Sam, blood dripping down his face, blood splattered all over him. Tells me its over. He's wrong too, still running.

They try and take the kid away, I can't let go, the kid won't let go, we're hanging on tight to each other. They pull him away, his eyes wide and terrified, reaching out for me, his only safety despite my blood that covers him. Too young, too innocent, too scared. Six years old and covered in my blood. Poor kid.

Pain streaking towards me, can't feel it, know it's coming, keep running, don't let it catch up. Hands roll me over. Fucking morons! Keep running, too late, pain's here, impaling, searing, tearing. Can hear screaming, rips at my throat. Open eyes, stars spinning, still running, trying to escape, reaching for them, till night descends.

*****

Bright lights running past, thumping feet beside me, Sam's face, still bleeding, leaning over me, horror in eyes, running to keep up with us. His mouth moving, can't hear what he's saying. Feet slowing down, still moving fast though, must be my heartbeat I'm hearing. Sam's face, panic-stricken, pale, in pain, both inside and out.

Sudden stop, Sam's dragged away, can still hear the thumping slowing down. Lights not so bright any more, smaller, shrinking, darkness flooding, surrounding stars, dimming, gone, silence.

*****

Comfortably numb, warm, fuzzy, peaceful. Whispered voices, groans of pain, not mine. Smells of blood and vomit, mixed with bleach. Child's voice, crying, pleading, silenced by a gentle murmur. Eyes gummed shut, soft pins and needles from head to toe, tight bands around leg and shoulder, a gentle pulling at the skin on my side as I breathe.

Pull eyes open, heavy lids, bright lights, squinting, tearing. Kids face, clean now, but I can still see my blood all over him. His face lights up when he sees me looking at him, but his eyes aren't innocent anymore. He'll see my blood till the day he dies. Grateful parents thank me, pull the smiling kid with horror-filled eyes away, and I wonder if they'll ever see the blood their son will never forget.

More groaning, next bed, Sam lying on his side, watching me with unfocussed eyes, retching into a sterile bowl. Bandages over his head and arm, in pain, but a welcoming smile on his face.

The other side of me, Backup and Spencer, walking wounded both, but still here. Richards' voice coming in clear from somewhere outside, complaining. But like all of us, still here to fight another day.

Behind Backup, a window, a night full of stars. Another reason to keep running, keep fighting. One day I'll reach them.

 


End file.
